Transfer device for glassware



TRANSFER DEVICE FOR -GLAS SWARE Filed July 23, 1927 l2 'Inventor ya@ ,e (5J/owja- A Horn ely.

by the angle through whichthe ware'is ro-. .tated may be selected and fromltime to time` PATENT OFFICE.

l GEORGE E..ROWE, OF WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOB TO HARTFORD-EM- PERE COMPANY, OF HARTFORD', CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION'OF. DELAWARE.

TRANSFER DEVICE FOR GLASSWARE.

Application filed .Tilly 23, 1927. Serial N0. 207,849.

invention relates to glass-working machinery, and particularly to means for transferring from a receiving station to a conveyor or Aannealing lehr, such newly-made- 4and unannealed glass bottles as have noncir'cular bottoms, one axis whereof 1s substantially greater than its' transverse axis.. As a K vide guides associated `with the lehr orre- 'c'eiving conveyor adapted to guide the bottles largeclass of such bottles having rectangular' bottoms and plain sides are commonly known as panels, that term will be herein used as the generic name of all of the abovedescribed glassware. y

*The invention is "designed primarily as an improvement of or addition to an automatic glassware stacker, such as that disclosed in the U. S. application for Letters Patent of Edward H. Lorenz, Serial No. 204,875, filed July l1, 1927, although it is not necessarily confined in its uses to that stacker, but is #0 conveyor upon which they arelto be deposited after transfer, may 'be' lal'iton'iatically turned about their verticalaxesinto a differentvangular position anddeposited 'upon a lehr or conyeyor insuch newV position.

v Aanother object ofmyinvention is to effect the operationl of such meansfrom the transferring movement ofthe-transfer device. 'r 1;.. Another object of the. invention iste provide such aimechanism having meanswherevaried, whereby thedevice mayreadily funci tion inthe receipt ofpanels from'bucks or= conveyors differently disposed-'relative to the center line of the lehr conveyor on which the ware is to be deposited, without varying the angular position` iniwhichthey are de'- posited-on the lehr., or fwhereby. the transfer device may be causedto depositware from-a 4particular buck at different and selected angular positions with respect to the center line of the lehr.

f' Y Another object of my invention is to pro- A.

suitable for use in anyA bottle transferring stacker, which may be turned by the transfer movement of the stacker to any selected extent, and which willy always return to the and to support them as they are deposited. Such Iaprovision is of particular moment in the transferring of panels which are usually comparatively narrow, and if' deposited on ka conveyor which may be uneven or while the` bottles ret-ain any swinging movement which may havel been imparted to them during transfer are apt to fall and to not only knock over other bottles already deposited, but to interfere with the deposit of future bottles on the lehr in such a manner as to cause breakage both of themselves and of the bottles later deposited. l"

Another object of the invention is to provide a spotter, associated with the buck and stacker for presenting panels to the gripping tongs of the transfer arms in a particular and selected angular positin with .respect to the buck and the lehr.

Further objects will appear from the fol'- lowing specication and claims.

In..the accompanying drawings:

Figure l'is a plan view of one embodimen of my invention, showing the associated buck,

stacker and lehr conveyor;

`Fig. 2 is an elevation of part of the mechanismY of Fig. l, showing the buck, lehr and stacker arm, together' with parts of its operating mechanism;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevation, partly in section, of a stacker head embodying my in- Ventron.; ,j i l Fig. 4 is -an'enlarged plan view` of the stacker head; y A

Fig. 5 is anenlargedplan View of the buck, showing the ,spotterl; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of the lehr conveyorjequipped with the guides of my invention. i

In the manufacture of glass bottles,`the

bottles-as formedmust be removed from the shaping, machineand placed within an oven' or lehr in which they may be annealed. In automatic installations, it has been the practice to provide a take-out of some well-known type to remove the formed bottles from the nomical manner, it is d esirable that theI newly formed bottles be moved to and through the lehr at a uniform and regular rate, and since while swinging, even' very in most lehr structures the temperature conditions therein dependvery largely upon the heat in the bottles, itis desirable thatthc bottles be placed on the lehr as uniformly y as possible, so that the heat conditions may remain constant when once properly adjusted. Itis alsoobviously desirable to stack the Ware in the lehr in a regular manner to bestutilize the'space on the lehr conveyor, and for other reasons. c f

VIn the` usual full automatic installation, this is accomplished bysuitably synchronized movements of the automatic shaping machine, the buck, the transfer and the lehr conveyor.

In the annealing of panels it is usually desirable that the bottle be placed on the moving lehr conveyor in a position in which the major aXis of its bottom is parallel \to the line of movement of the conveyor, as such a position reduces. the chances of it being upset by the pull on the conveyor. Particular the panel is properly .steadied during and immediately after its deposit on theconveyor, as its narrowness-readily permits its upset if itv i`s deposited onan uneven conveyor or slightly, as the result of its transfer.

, often do require cooperation` of the two,

The conditions in the factory may and that Vthe panels be so dcposited on the bucko-r theb'uek be so located relative to the lehr that -if'the bottles be transferred' t0 the lehr by the us'ual means they will not be so desirably positioned and many diticulties in the management of the annealing process will follow. g j The-proper stacking of panels in the lehrl `is accomplished through the use of myy invention, which corrects or obviates the conditions resulting from the necessity of locating the buck and lehr in relative positions determined by factory space,- rather than by the desired and from the haphazard placing of thepane'l. on the buck,

either by .the take-out". or as Vthe result ofj manual removalof bottles. for weighing or inspection.. Y

Broadly stated, my inventlon comprises l a spotter associated with thebuck to assure that each bottle be presented at the ltransfer receiving station in` the same angular position with respect,l to Ithe center line of the buck; (2) a transfer' headcarried by the Vstacker and provided( with Ware gripping tongs, and which While being revolved aboutis maintained -provisions are also desirable to assure that panel parallel to @or at any selected angle with) the center liii'e of the lehr` conveyor, and (3) guides at the delivery station on the l' conveyor to correct any tendency of the panel to rock and upset on i'ts'depositfand release from the tongs, these guides being made feasible by the predetermined angular position ot' each bottle atthe time of deposit on the conveyor. In the embodiment of vmy invention illus- ,trated in the drawings, there is shown (Figs.

1 and 2) a buck 11 designed to receive bottles 12rom the take-out o1' a shaping machine and to advance them to a, receiving station for an automatic transfer device or stacker, indicated asa pairotarms 13. .As illustrated, each bottle 12'is of the panel type and is shown with the greater axis of its bottomY parallel to the center line of the buck;

The Aangular position oit'thebottles upon the buck, however, is not alwaysunifor'm. The bottles are often displaced either during the vtake-out operation yor because individual bottles are'removed for vWeighing or inspection' and then` replaced haphazard upon .the buck. To correct'the angular position of misplaced bottles upon the buck and-vto'assure that the bottle necks will be in the proper position forgrasping by the tongs of the take-out mechanism, I provide on or adjacent to the buck a suitable guiding4 mechanism, such, for example, as the 4spotter-14,` `here lllll' shown as comprising a member 15 mount-'eden .the station-ary lframe of the buck abovelthe travelinof ortion thereof and carryin appair of adjutble fingers 17 bolted thegto bolts 16, in a position'above the traveling portion 'of the buck and in the path of the glassware. These lingers are providediat their'jouter ends with beveled portions forlar position..

ment properlysynchronized with the movement of the shaping machine and of the transer device -or stacker. Adj aeent to `guiding a displaced bottle to the transferreceiving stati the delivery end of the buckis y allehr 18'1n which the bottles are annealed,

andlwhich'is preferably provided With a continuously moving conveyor belt 19. l Such a lehr is illustrated in the United States Patent to V. Mulholland, No. 1,560,481.

Between the buck and the lehr is mounted' a transfer device or stacker, preferably ot' the type set forthand described'in the Lorenz application above-referred to, 'and more or -less diagrammatically illustrated by the pair' of. symmetrical arms 13 (Figfl). This stacker consists of a suitable 'frame upon'whieh is' mounted a carriage provided with a pair of4 downwardly projecting arms (Fig. 2).- on each of which one of the transfer arms 13 is mounted forrotation about a` horizontal shaft 21. The carriage is'also adapted for inter- .mittent angular movement about a vertical pivot toprovide for the-lateral spacing of bottles delivered by the stacker to the lehr, each arm of the stacker being designed to cover by his intermittent movement one-half of the width of the lehr. The stacker to which reference is made is so designed that the arms 13 always return to pick up a bottle at a fined single receiving station and to deliver the bottles to a plurality of delivery vstations upon -larstacker referred to, thechain 23 is moved in one direction by a crank, v and in the reverse direction by an airspring operating underfthe control of the crank. y

The other end of the arm 13 forms a hub 30,

` provided with bearings 28 for a horizontal shaft 27 (Fig. 3). A sprocket wheel 24 is keyed to one end ofthe shaft 21 'and carries a closed chain 25 which also passes around a sprocket wheel 26 which is keyed `to oneend of the shaft 27. The sprocket wheels 24 and 26 are similar, hence as the. arm 13 revolves about the shaft 21, the shaft 2f? is similarly revolved in its bear'inga28. The opposite end of the shaft 27 carries-a verti'cal bearing and supportingmember 29 by which the tong-carrying and operating head 33Ais carried.' -lThe member 29 is thus maintained in its vertical position at 'all times as the arm 13 is revolved about the shaft 21. The hub 30 carries a-ring gear 131 constantly in mesh with a bevelgear on the lower end of a member 32 which is revolubly mounted upon the member 29. The head 33. carrying tongs y34 at its 'lower extremity, is rotatably mounted within the mem'- ber 29 land carries at its upper portion a split member 35 designed-to lde'clamped.about"the:v head 33 above thefmember 29 by bolts 36. Vv,the panel bottles to fall upon their larger bevel gear member l32 is provided with an up per annular portion surrounding the head 3 and which loosely lits within an annular por tion of the member 35. rlhe upper surface o with projecting pins 37 mounted in the member 35 and forced toward the gear member by compression springs 38. It is thus apparent thatas the arm 13 revolves about the horizontal shaft 20, the ring gear 31 imparts rotary" through the frictional engagement with the member 35, vturns that member and the head 33 about its vertical axis.

The member 29 carries 'a projecting part v39 on which is mountedlF-stop'40'designed to contact with downwardly projecting pins 41 and 42 carried in holes provided in the member 35 to place predetermined limitson the rotating movementof the head 33. The pin 42 is designed to be set in one of the two holes 43 (dependent upon the mounting of the head on one or other" of the arms) and determines the position of the head and the tongs at the receiving or pick-up station. The pin 41 yis placed in one of a plurality of holes 44, and is designed tolimit the angular movement of the head caused by the transferring movement of the transfer arm. l/Vhile the beveled gear 32 is, during a -transfer movement, always revolved by the ring gear 31 through an arc determined-by the relative proportions of the ring gear andathe bevel gear, the extent of movement of the head may be predetermined and varied through the positioning of the pins -so'that after a predetermined angular movement has been imparted to the head, the drive between thebvel gear 32 and the member 35 will slip arid themrotary movement of `.the head be discontinued.

`As the buck 11 may be placed, by reason of factory conditions, at anyanglewith respect to the center line of lthelehr, it is desirable y that the ring gear 31 and bevel gear 32 be so proportioned as to vrmit a maximum rotation of at least legrees of the head 33 dur' ing the-transfer movement of the arm'13, and A these gears are preferably such that the bevel gear will rotate though a number'of degrees which is an odd multiple of 90 during a single movement -of the transfer arm. In'the par- 4 ticular structure-shown, the proportion of the gears is such that the bevel gear will rotate 270 degrees 'before't-he ring gear has moved through 180 degrees. It is obviously desirable that the rotary movement of the head cease 'before deposit of thebottle in the lehr.

- At the receiving end of the lehr conveyor isl provided a lateral bar 45 upon which are removably clamped spacing bars or members -46. These members are preferably beveled at the top edge, as shown at ,47 (Fig. 6), to permit the'easv deposit 4of panel vbott-les therebetween, and should be of sutlicient height and so spaced as to correct any tendency of aces. They' extend sufficiently far down the ehr conveyor to assure support to the panel .funtil all vibratory movement of the bottles the gear member. 32 is in frictional Contactv -;has ceased, and until the bottle has progressed :then falls it will not interfere with the stacki nism or by hand, and is preferably moved by maintained at the receiving station by the device 14. In this position, it is picked up by the tongs of one of the arms 13 ofthe stacker, the' ton-g fingers being at the time in a' predetermined angular position with respect to the vertical axisof the head. As the stacker arm is moved from the receiving station to a delivery i. station on the lehr, the chain 25, moving about the fixed sp-rocket 24, revolves the sprocket 26 and thus maintains the head always in a vertical position. The bevel gear 32 is move'd over the lixed ring gear 3l and is revolved thereby. By reasonl of the frictionab contact between the member 35 and the upper portion of the bevel gear, the member 35 is rotated with the gear and carries with it the head 33 and the bottle supported by the tongs i. revolving these parts around their vertical axes until the pin 41 contacts with the stop 40, whereupon the rotation of thehead'is stopped while the .rotation ofthe bevel gear 32 continues. The bottle is then deposited in its predetermined angular position between a pair of the guides 46 upon vthe lehr con-v veyor. 19' and released by the tongs. The

avare, during its 'early movement through the lehr, is prevented from falling by the aforeg said guides 46.

4u f the' pin 42 strikes the stop 40, arresting the The arm then returns 'for another bottlfe,

' the ring gear`3l revolving the. gear 32 in the ,opposite direction. During this movement, y

-transfer glassware from a' delivery station the member 35 and head 33 are ro'tated until movement of. the beadv and causing slipping lof the drive between the gear 32Aand the member: 35.-

invention may be readily 'applied' to other forms of transferdevices ,than that shown and described, and the specific embodiment may bekmodilied in structural details yIIclaim:

and arrangement without departing from the spirit of theinventi on. v

1.` lIn a device it from the receiving" stationto' the delivery station, and means forrotating the ware about its vertical axis duringfsu'ch transferring movement.

ware delivery stations. a transfer arm, means carried by said arm for grippingthe glassware, means for rotating the arm about ahorizontal axis, and means operated by the e for Atransferring glassware .from a receiving station to a delivery station, means for gripping the ware, means for re; volvingit about a horizontal axis to transfer movement of the arm about itsw horizontal axis to revolve the ware about a vertical axis.

3. In a transfer device for glassware in combination, rotating means for moving the' ware from a receiving station to a delivery station,l and other rotating means operated from the iirst named means foi` rotating the ware about an axis transverse to the axisof rotation of the tirst named means.

4. In an automatic transfer device for glassware in combination, a transfer arm mounted f or oscillation about a horizontal axis and adapted'to transfer glassware from a receiving station toa plurality of delivery stations, tong members carried by said arm and adapted to grip the ware to be transferred, means for maintaining the tong members and the ware gripped thereby during oscillation of the arm in positions parallel to ltheir position atthe receiving station, and.

f-eombination with a transfer arm adapted to moveabouty a horizontal pivot between a ware-receiving and a ware-delivery station,

a revolvable head"mechanism mounted on said arm and comprising a tong-carrying and operating mechanism, a bearing member adapted to' revolve about a horizontal axis,

gear members associatedl with the bearing vmember, a friction mernber'driven by one of said gear members and connected to said' tong mechanism, .and means for maintaining the-bear1ng 'member and tong members '1n movement to the gears and ffriction member during the transfer movement of the arm.l

'loe vertical' positions and'for in iparting,rotar-y.- l

a'ftransfer mechanism adapted to'v to receiving "station, an oscillatory transfer los.'

arm, a transferihead including tongs adapted to gripl theware, means for-maintainingthe tong mechanism in vertical position throughout the movement of the transfer arm, means for rotating the tong mechanism about its `vvertical axis, and means for varying the exlll) tent of rotation of said tong mechanism during a transfer movement ofthe arm.

In a glassware transferring mechanism,

an arm, means forrotating said armv about a' 'horizontal axis, a"tong-(.:arryingv lhead mounted at the extremity ofsaid arm, said head comprising a member mounted vfor roLv 'tary' movement about ahorlzontal axis, and

a tong-carrying mechanismmounted 1n said last-named member for. rotation about its longitudinalwaxis, means for rotating 'the `first-named member, vgearing -actuatel by the rotation of said .member to rotate the tong tent of rotation of said tong mechanism.

18.- In a.` transfer devlce, a .transfer arm ware-receivingI station, aware-gripping mechmechanism, and means fqr limiting thev exi mechanism 'in positions parallel to its ware-- mined arc. 15`

anism mounted rat the extremity of said arm, means for maintaining the 'ware-gripping receiving position during .the transferring aj friction -member axis, transfer arm vto rotate and meansassociated with the head andwith -the friction member for rendering the -gear mechanism inetl'ectiye after it has been rotatedl through a predeter- 9. In combination, a buck for receiving newly formed glassware from ashapmg machine `and,c'onveying it to a ware-receivingY lllelir having a continuonsl -to rotate the. head?` l position, a ,spotter `member associated `with delivery stationv in a predetermined angular position with respect to its Vertical axis, a

a: transfer device adapte ware from the rece1v1ng station'to a delivery station on the lehr conveyor, means for rotat- 'lsald buck for-guiding the glassware to said).

moving conveyor, .to transfer' 'glassing the ware'a'bout its longitudinal axis in a predetermined 'arc during the transfer movement thereof, and means associated with thev ehr and transfer device for -guiding and sup'-.

porting-the ware -during and immediately after its delivery on the lellr conveyor..

Signedlat Hartford, Connecticut this 20th .Y 

